Hey guys! Hoi zäme!

Another amazing week has passed and we can’t believe that there are only two weeks left. Each day we are being encouraged, challenged and enjoy the time with each other.

On Sunday afternoon, we were told about the activities for the coming week, and some of the challenges we would be facing. Luckily, we had a former OTG participant from NZ come for dinner and encourage us. We were nervous for the week ahead of us but very excited to see what God would do in our lives.

This tramp took us back to Abel Tasman and we started off with a fun water taxi ride that took us over many waves to the start of our walk in Totaranui.

While hiking we spent time talking about our lives and experiences we’ve had, which took our connections to a deeper level. We once again noticed how precious it is to have each other and build a strong community. Despite these great conversations, we knew we had to keep our walking pace up together to Awaroa Bay before high tide, or we would have to swim.

We beat high tide, so the water we had to cross only got our legs wet. While passing through the water we kept getting stuck in the mud and stepped on shells which provided a fun, sticky memory for all of us. After we had crossed this muddy wasteland, we could observe the tide coming in from our hut.

The sandflies we encountered at the hut especially targeted one member of our group, which continued for the rest of the tramp. Except for that we all enjoyed the afternoon and the great views from the hut. A highlight was the clear, starry sky in the evening.

The second day of our tramp took us further along the stunning coastline and we walked trough the hills and across beaches. At one beach we saw the bones of a whale that had washed up a few weeks ago. This was very unusual and impressive to see. We encountered the infamous weka in Onetahuti bay, which tried to unzip our bags and steal our food while we were having lunch. They tried to distract us but we still managed to stay focused on our Bible study we did there. We talked about how we don’t want to live our lives only for ourselves but that we want to use it to invest in other people, and invite them to learn about our faith. It made us think about ways to be more intentional when we meet people along our way and in our hometowns.

We arrived at Bark bay in time to watch the sunset from the beach, which was truly a beautiful expression of God’s glory. Sitting at the beach, admiring the views and chatting was the perfect way to end the day. At the hut Jogvan and Tabea both met people that spoke their language from their home country which they really enjoyed. We really liked the hut and especially the girls could get a good rest at night, since they got a room to themselves which reminded them of OTG Basecamp.

The last day of the tramp we were faced with the prospect of walking 23km in one day, which was the largest distance we’ve done so far in a day.

The constant walking and deep conversations for three days were starting to make our feet and brains hurt. To motivate ourselves, Norm challenged us to walk the last 2.7km in under 30 minutes. The track sign said that it would take 50 minutes, so we knew we had to push ourselves despite already being very tired. We had to work together as a team and look out for each other. When we work together we can achieve so much more and when we all made it to the finish line at the same time we were proud of our success. We were able to finish the track in only 24 Minutes and 47 seconds which surpassed our expectations.

When we arrived back at basecamp the whole team dissolved into exhausted giggles, and we were so relieved to find dinner already cooked (Thanks, Christy).

The days after the tramp we talked about the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives and in our hearts and how he empowers us. As we continue to grow in our understanding of God’s Word and how to be a Christian leader in today’s world, knowing the Holy Spirit is with us gives us courage. We want to step beyond ourselves and follow the Lord’s leading in our lives.